The Tech Girl (closed-PM first)

[zydrate]

Will today be the day?

That thought was always in Natalie's head as she got her coffee every morning. She was one of the few that arrived extra early only because that allowed her time to leave early also. And with the recent time change, it helped a lot.

Nattie always made sure to take her time when making her morning coffee in the break room. Even though the stuff tasted rancid, she still drank a little of it just as an excuse to be there and perhaps 'accidentally' run into him. And it happened a lot. But it was always a quick 'hello' or 'morning' type thing. Most of the time she was pretty sure he didn't notice because he was almost always talking with some other pretty female from his department.

Maybe it would help if she perhaps spoke to him. But what would she say to him? 'Hey Jason, how's your computer running today?'

Yeah, she knew he never really used it unless it was for something he monitoring...not that she peeked at his files or anything. Nattie just knew the top brass had their cute little secretaries do all their work for them while they went out to play golf or took extra long vacations. OK, so they did more than that but sometimes, it didn't seem like it.

Hell, most of the important employees didn't really talk to the tech nerds downstairs. Screw that, most never talked to them at all. It was as if I.T. was from some different world...

Perhaps Nattie needed to change the way she looked. Sure, she wasn't as pretty as the women upstairs but she wasn't ugly either. She usually wore her wavy red hair pulled back into a ponytail or wore a headband to keep it out of her face. Her clothing consisted of some thing like a uniform, although it wasn't but it was something she was accustomed to wearing every day; black pants and a black top. Nothing fancy.

Today was a bust. No Jason...oh well...Making a face, Nattie took her coffee and headed to her department.

Maybe tomorrow.

 

[susurrus]

Meetings. Fucking meetings.

Jason knew they were necessary, but at times, it seemed like there were people hired simply to coordinate and hold meetings, just for the sake of having the damn things. More often than not, he came out of them with the feeling that nothing useful had been accomplished.

Back at his desk, he tried to fire up his computer, but to no avail. There was information he needed to get off the server, and emails to compose for two overseas customers, but without the computer, it was going to be a pain in the ass. Yes, he could do it all with his phone, but there were some things that were a lot easier to do on a full-sized keyboard, with a larger screen.

He'd checked that everything was plugged in properly, and as far as he could tell, all was well. The thing was just dead.

Picking up his phone, he dialed his secretary. When he got her voicemail, he hung up without leaving a message. Where the hell was she? If Aline wasn't so good at her job - and didn't brighten his day with the way she filled out both her skirts and her tops - he'd ask for someone else to take her position.

For a few seconds, Jason wondered what he was going to do. Aline had always contacted the people necessary to take care of such things before... But he needed this worked out, and as soon as possible.

Somewhere in his desk, he knew he had a hardcopy of the company directory, with every phone listed, even the ones that no one used. It took a minute, but he finally tracked it down and went to the listing for IT.

He tried the numbers one by one, but every one went into voice mail. Finally, there was only one last number left to try. A "Natalie." Jason wasn't aware the IT gang had a female member. Showed him what he knew. Well, no one else was answering, and they wouldn't have hired someone who didn't know their stuff, so he dialed, and a female voice came on after two rings.

"Hi, Natalie? This is Jason Thomas up on fifth. My computer is totally dead. I've checked cords, I've made sure it's plugged in to the wall, but when I try to boot, nothing happens. Can you come and see what might be happening?"

 

[zydrate]

"Wow...that's odd.." that thought ran through Natalie's mind after she hung up the phone with Mr. Jason Thomas. She sat there dumbfounded for another moment more before realizing that she needed to get up and head up to his office to find out what was going on. He seemed a little strained and hell, he even sounded like he knew what to check before calling the department.

Her hand patted her thigh as she rode the elevator up to the floor where Jason worked. It was a short ride usually but for some reason, now that she was needed, the ride seemed to take forever.

Ignoring the glances from some of the other workers as she walked passed them and toward Jason's office, Nattie gave a soft knock at his office door before entering, "Mr. Thomas, I'm Nattie...uhh, I mean Natalie from IT, you called about your computer?"

Quickly giving him a small smile and a nod, Nattie walked over to his desk. She hoped she hid her nervousness well as she looked over his monitor and then at the wires, "Well, let's see what's going on. Nothing serious I'm sure.."

 

[susurrus]

As Jason hung up the phone he though to himself, 'I like her voice. I wonder if the rest of her matches up. Probably not. There's most likely a reason she chose computers as a career.'

Without the computer, there wasn't much he could do, so he just leaned back in his chair and fantasized about some of the women there in the company. There were plenty of them that were fantasy material. Sure, a lot of them were married, but a good fantasy knew no such barriers.

As he was dreaming of Mrs. Perkins from Marketing decked out in black lace lingerie, laid out over her desk, licking her to a screaming orgasm, then fucking her silly, there was a knock on his door, followed by the tentative entrance of a head.

Jason couldn't get a good view of who it was, but the hair and its color seemed familiar. When the voice that came out sounded similar to the one he'd spoken with on the phone, he realized he'd been wrong about his assumption regarding this "Natalie's" looks.

Her introduction done, she tentatively stepped inside Jason's office and up to his desk.

Her proximity gave him the chance to look her over and assess what he had in the room with him. Holy shit. For a computer nerd, she was hot. Then he thought about it again. Hell, for an anything, she was hot. Jason was no ladykiller, but he did okay, and he could judge the kind of woman he liked, and he liked this Natalie from IT.

She didn't seem quite at ease as she looked over the equipment on the desk. Jason reasoned his scrutiny might be a good part of the reason for that, but he couldn't help himself. For one, there wasn't really anything else there in the office to do, and he found he couldn't take his eyes off her.

Finding nothing wrong with the stuff she could easily see, she stepped around the side of the desk, since the CPU stood at one side under it. It kept the wires hidden so that there was as little clutter evident as possible. However, it also meant that Natalie was going to have to get under the desk to check the rest, even if all she planned to do was drag the box out where she could get at it more easily.

"Well, let's see what's going on," she said with nervous cheer as Jason moved out of the way and Natalie started to get on her hands and knees to access his CPU. "Nothing serious, I'm sure.."

 

[zydrate]

There was a lot Natalie could do with a computer. Today, it was no exception. So why was she so nervous? It was probably because she was working on her crush's computer. Hell, she was in his office...

On her knees...

Smiling to herself, Nattie shook her head as she pulled the CPU out a bit, not completely out from under Jason's desk and checked each wire one by one. She didn't even have to get to the 4th wire when she found the problem. The power cord was dangling out of the socket and so she plugged it back it. Pushing it back into place and hitting the power button, Nattie moved out from under the desk and was still on her knees as she leaned her arms on his desk and watched the monitor show that the computer was powering up.

"There." She said, "I'm guessing that the cleaners accidentally yanked on the power cord while vacuuming or some such." Nattie shrugged and stood up, realizing that Jason was standing in a very close proximity of her. Almost right away, she felt her nervousness creep back into her. Perhaps this was a reason she was still single, Nattie was more comfortable around machines than she was with men. Besides, her last date didn't end so well because she found herself talking about computers. "So, umm... I guess that's it. You're all set to go." She moved around the desk in order to slowly move away from him and toward the door. "So, if you need anything else, just let me...I mean, umm, let us know..."

 

[susurrus]

Jason watched as Natalie crawled under his desk to check the computer. 'God, what a gorgeous ass she has,' he thought to himself. He didn't think he was that kind of guy, but seeing her on her hands and knees while he stood and watched her work turned him on. Yeah, she might have been a computer geek, but she was hot as all get out.

As he stood there and she fiddled with his CPU under the desk, a memory popped into his head. He'd seen her before. The fact was in the periphery of his mind. He just couldn't place where.

When he saw the power cord push in a fraction of an inch, he knew where he'd gone wrong. He'd checked the power cord, but at the other end. He hadn't thought to see if it was plugged securely into the box itself.

Once she had the power cord back where it belonged, Natalie hit the power, popped up onto her knees and watched as his monitor finally came to life. Jason couldn't help thinking about this woman on her knees doing something else for him...

He tried to shake such thought from his mind. It wasn't the kind of thing you thought of a co-worker. If fact, it was the kind of thought that had the potential of ending a guy up in court, or at the very least out on the street with a sexual harassment charge on his record.

When the company logo finally lit up on the screen, Natalie said brightly, "There. I'm guessing that the cleaners accidentally yanked on the power cord while vacuuming or some such." She then stood and turned toward him. When she realized how close they were, she started getting uncomfortable, like she had been when she'd entered.

With her this close, Jason could smell the shampoo she'd used in her hair that morning. Some part of him wanted to pull her close, look down into her eyes, and maybe do something more. God, it'd been so long. He'd been putting in so many hours at work, there was no time for a relationship with anything but his desk.

Still, even though they both stood firmly in each other's personal space, neither managed to move. They both seemed flustered about the situation. With a definite shake to her voice, Natalie finally managed:

"So, umm... I guess that's it. You're all set to go." She then started to nervously sidle her way around the desk, apparently heading for the door. Jason noticed that at no time did she turn away from him, which seemed a bit strange. He didn't mind, he liked the look of her, but normally, wouldn't a person want to see where they were going?

Natalie stumbled across the corner of his desk before she muttered, "So, if you need anything else, just let me... I mean, umm, let us know..." It was then that she turned and started to dash toward the door.

It was just then Jason realized where he'd seen her before.

"The break room!" he blurted. "That's where I've seen you before! It's been bothering me ever since you walked in. I've been meaning to say something to you, but I've either been preoccupied with what I need to get done, or somebody else has waylaid me. Of course, I have no idea what I'd say, anyhow..."

He let his confession trail off. He realized he was starting to sound like a fool, or a loser, or both. It wasn't the image he had among a lot of the staff, it wasn't the way tried to comport himself. Not that he was Mr. Cool or anything, but he usually felt more self-confident. For some reason, lately, he felt anything but.

"Uh, thank you, Natalie," he finally said, clearing his throat. "I appreciate it. I'm glad to have met you. I'll certainly call you... um, I mean, your department if I need help again."

Christ, he was coming off like a babbling fool. What the hell was wrong with him?

"I probably should get back to work," he mumbled apologetically. "Thanks again." He really didn't want Natalie to leave, but he didn't know of anything else he could have her do for him, without coming off like he was making shit up just to keep her in the room.